Never? Never
by Eddiee Beth
Summary: On Hiatus! Jane thought WWII was overwhelming, but when she gets taken to Never Never Land against her will, she realizes that fighting alongside fairies and infiltrating Pan's Lost Boys as one of their own to save the island is much more inordinate. Jane must now go on a hunt to save the little magic left by retrieving lost things, befriending Hook, and defeating the charming Pan.
1. A Thimble, A Kiss

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, but the storyline, on the other hand, …that's all my handiwork.

* * *

"Papers!" Shouted a thin, chestnut-haired teen that had trouble looking over crowds of older men twice his height, "Get your papers here!"

He continued shouting that mantra throughout the next few hours of the busy early morning, his own voice still soft from the early morning. No one questioned his tone of voice for people rushing to get to work, others pushing through to catch the train, and others just thought he hadn't entered puberty yet.

It was all pure luck. He had found the perfect spot to sell his papers next to an empty bench that was a few feet away from the buzzing entrance and all the shops that had begun to open. But, that popular tobacco smoke shop behind him made the spot all the better to sell papers to the male population who could afford it.

One particular man, of said demographic, strutted with towards the boy sparring him a quick glance of unworthiness. His gravity-defying mustache that curled at the end twitched as he demanded a single, pristine paper. Then quickly exchanging the commodity for a nickel before coiling back as if burned; it was undeniably rude, yes, but it was business.

It's what brought the food to the table. What kept him from starving.

After a sigh from the lanky chestnut teen, he looked back to the audaciously insolent man who had walked into the smoke shop as if he owned the place with the world at his feet. He was greeted with politeness the child has never been graced with before, with hospitality that he longed for. A longing to be so rich that he didn't have to worry about the how and what of the next meal on the dinner table.

That thought was quickly cut short from the blaring horn on the departing train. The voice of another child selling papers for a competing newsstand brought him back to the game of competition and away from daydreams. There was no time to waste in the present.

No, he corrected himself with the mentality of an adult, there was never time to waste on such frivolous ideas for if he wanted to be rich, then he had to work hard. There was no other way; money didn't just fall from the sky or grow on trees.

"Excuse me," a timid little boy, probably around five years old with dirt covering his face and tattered overalls hanging over his scrawny bone-looking shoulders approached, "Will you trade a paper for a marble? My pa lost his job…but it's his birthday and I don't have money to buy him a proper gift."

He opened his pale palm, revealing the shiniest marble he had ever laid eyes on. It had swirls of blue, green, and orange. But the emerald green caught his eye the most, it looked like a real jewel and stood out above all the other colors.

Snapping out of the trance, he blinked twice before looking down at a paper in his own hand. A frown covered his features knowing he couldn't trade it no matter how beautiful and enticing the marble may have been, "Sorry lad, I can't. If I don't properly sell the papers, the other boys will rat me out and then I won't get paid. But, tell you what…there's a shop two houses down that collects marbles. They might offer you good money for a beauty like that."

The little boy's face lit up; his blue eyes glimmered with hope as he nodded in thanks and quickly left like the wind. A faint twinkling sound of an instrument played as he watched the little boy disappear into the throngs of people until it stopped altogether. That sweet bell-like sound had seemed to radiate from the boy and he thought it was just a trick of his ear for doing the right thing and helping another poor child out.

Then a boom of a horn signaled the noon train had just arrived, letting all the newspaper boys that it was rush hour time and that they'd have to move like machines to successfully sell their stack of the day.

Hours passed until it was five past one. Three papers were left; one under his arm and the other two on the floor next to his feet. Desperately looking around to rid of these papers, he shouted his mantra one last time but the area was almost empty. Few people roamed, the streets and the smoke shop was closed for lunch making this the worst spot in the afternoon.

The teen scowled while his forearm wiped his sweaty forehead; the sun taking pleasure in making him sticky with perspiration.

"Are you selling papers boy or just standing there like a post?" A rounded-belly man, resembling a young Saint Nicolas with a brown bowling hat and bushy brunette beard, yelled before giving a hearty laugh. "If you doze off like that my boy, you'll lose customers!"

"Y-Yes," the teen cleared his throat to regain his composure from being caught off guard, "Yes sir."

The older man just laughed and tucked his hands in his trousers' pockets before producing a few coins, "I'll take the last three papers for my colleges and me."

"Yes sir," the boy repeated carefully handing the man the remaining papers and received exactly fifteen cents, "Thank you, sir."

With a nod of his head and a tipping of his hat, the man laughed again before handing the teen another coin, "A penny for your thoughts."

As he walked away, the teen dumbfoundedly starring at the free penny in his hand. Truth be told, he was astonished, he just couldn't believe a person would hand out money to strangers as if it were cheap candy.

* * *

"Sold all your stack boy?" The gruff man asked as he scratched his balding head and the teen insecurely tugged on his own cap to make sure it hadn't accidentally fallen off.

"Yes," responded the boy, quite proud of that fact. If he had even one paper left, he'd be scolded and get less money for completing his task. Luckily, that had not happened, "Not one left."

The man grumbled under his breath, "Good. You know the rules. Fifty cents of profit are mine and if I find out you lied you won't be working here anymore, you hear boy?"

He nodded, handing over ten nickels, got his journal stamped by the man, and quickly left with a relief. That odd man always put him on edge and he turned a corner to leave the unpleasant place behind. A smug smile graced his features from the day's events as the reminder of the coins jingled in his pocket whenever he moved. Two dollars and a penny. He had made two dollars and a penny today and it felt good to finally reap the rewards.

"James, darling!" a shrill voice of a girl erupted from behind him. He turned to glance at her, and that had been his demise, she had caught up to him and strappingly latched her arm onto his. "Darling I've missed you."

Her baby blue dress bounced as she pouted and skipped alongside his pace. Her blonde curls annoyingly tickling his bare arm, "Go away Marie."

"But, Jamesie, my darling!" He rolled his eyes at her ironic nickname as she whined. She was a spoiled rich girl whose daddy worked for the bank; meaning that anything his little princess wanted, she got. "My daddy say's I can spend time with a man who's worth it."

"Your daddy will kill you if he sees you hanging out with a street rat like me Marie. It'd be in both our best interest if you'd just leave," he said with a frown and managed to get out of her vice-like grip. Being freed, he ran down another alleyway that she wouldn't dare have the guts to chase him down, "Forget about me, Marie. Trust me, one day it'll be like I was never even born."

His shouted response bounced off the stone bricks as she frustratingly stomped her feet before turning around to go back home. He chuckled – no, _she_ chuckled as she removed her blasted cap and her chestnut hair cascaded down now that she was out of view.

"Jamesie," snickered a boy who had surprisingly slipped her detection and trailed her down the alleyway. She should have seen him coming considering he was taller than her as he reached her side, "Poor Marie if only she knew James was actually Jane Darling."

"Oh, shut it, Alfie," Jane thwarted, "It's not like I asked for her pompous attention. I'd be more than grateful if you were to win her heart sooner rather than later; it's not like it's a secret that you like her anyways."

Alfie blushed, not knowing what to wittily respond with and only managed to come up with, "Hey! I was the one who helped you get this job, you should at least give me some credit."

"Your right Alfie, I apologize for my ungrateful attitude," Jane sarcastically said with a wide grin that won over Alfie.

"You're getting better at becoming a rascal like myself Jane," he said with a chuckle as he placed an arm around her shoulders, "You sure you're a girl?"

"Oh Alfie, wouldn't you like to know. So, how much did you manage to cash in today?" Jane casually said pushing his arm off as they passed the dark alleyway together as the sunset.

"I managed to sell all my fifty papers, so two dollars," he said stretching his back as it cracked, it had been a long day for both of them under the harsh sun of the city that would cover over with smog from buildings every now and then, "What about you Jane?"

"Same," sighed the girl as a comfortable silence grazed them.

"I think I'm going to enlist in the war…" mumbled Alfie, but Jane caught his words and froze on the spot.

"What? Are you crazy Alfie? You're only seventeen; a year older than myself!" Jane said holding onto his hand to stop him from walking away from her, "W-Why?"

"There's nothing for me here Jane. I've got no family, at least you've got the girls." He seriously spoke, that was very unlike his usual playful attitude, meaning he was truly dead serious, "Besides if I make it through the war then I'd get benefits like wages. I'd be somebody then and I could marry Marie with her father's approval."

"You really thought this through," Jane concluded with a sincere smile as she let go of his hand, and looked sadly at the ground, "I'd miss you, Alfie."

"I would too." He said before digging in his pocket and producing a silver thimble, "This was the last thing my grandmother gave me before she passed away." He placed it in Janes' hand, closing her palm and held it close to his chest while she stared wide-eyed, "It's a kiss. Promise you'll keep it and remember me."

"I-I promise Alfie," Jane said feeling tears trail down her cheeks, this was a grown-up moment that she felt she was too young to have. A child shouldn't be concerning themselves if their friend would survive the war. "I promise."

"Good," he said lightly punching her shoulder to rid the emotional moment and placed his shoulder once again over her before steering her to walk. He noticed that she was tightly clenching the thimble and made no move to push his arm off again.

"Alfie, promise me something…" Jane managed to say once they reached their first stop in front of an all-girls group home. "Please."

Alfie looked down at his fidgeting best friend as she avoided to look him in the eyes, he just couldn't help himself from teasing her which could have possibly been the last time, "Only if you look me in the eyes, Jane. It's funny how shy you can get after your first kiss."

"Shut up!" Jane said breaking out of her sad demeanor and regaining that fierceness that had convinced her to dress as a boy to help her friends, "Dammit Alfie I was really trying to be sincere there."

"Okay, okay," he said laughing with his hands held up in surrender, "Now what's that about a promise Jane? You can't keep me hanging on curiosity like that."

"Promise me you don't forget about me," she said producing a picture of herself that her caregiver had managed to take of her for her sixteenth birthday. She pulled out a pen too and wrote the words her mother would often whisper when she tucked her in at night years ago, and handed to him, "Take this."

Alfie took the photograph as he promised he would never part with it. He then watched her safely enter the group-home she resided in before turning the picture to see what she had penned. He smiled as he read,

 _Believe in the stars and the moon,_

 _For that in the still of night where demons bloom,_

 _A rustle in the wind may change the tide_

 _And it'll take you on a wild ride,_

 _Far from the haunting wind and shadows,_

 _Away from the foes,_

 _Back to when the days were long,_

 _In my arms where you belong._

 _Your darling, Jane_


	2. Her Lucky Penny

Red in the face from embarrassment, Jane peered at her window as she saw Alfie leave with a big smile on his face. When she could no longer see him, she turned around and sighed, the warm redness turned into a light pink hue that dusted her cheeks. She used to have a crush on him, ever since that fateful day when his grandmother had come in donating non-perishable foods to the group home. She was five back then and he had just turned six, and she had fallen for his boyish looks that she imagined princes would have when she read storybooks back then. Honey eyes and a blinding smile as if he had just won the horse race by placing his bets right.

Then they had grown up a little more and she had found out that he had a crush on Marie; the girl of his dreams with golden hair and freckles adorning her face as if they were painted on. Jane had decided that she wouldn't risk her friendship with him and convinced herself that day that she wasn't attracted to him. But that had been a lie.

When his grandmother died, that white lie haunted her and she realized that she could never stop liking him for he was depressed and Jane had been the one to comfort him. She had been there by his side through everything, and her crush had turned into something more.

That's the first time she had ever known the feeling of 'love'. She had truly loved him enough to never give in to her selfish desire...enough to keep her secret hidden forever. That's what she had learned love actually was; it wasn't a fairy tale where the couple lived happily ever after. It was about being able to give up your own needs for the sake of another even if it meant that they only stayed friends forever and nothing more. And after she realized that, she knew she had lost some of her childhood naivety.

"I hate you, heart," Jane mumbled, her appendage piercingly bumping into her rib cage.

"Jane? Is that you dear?" Her caregiver, Mrs.S, peered out from the kitchen in the far back of the building, "It's past sundown and no lady in her right mind should be wondering those streets alone not that I don't believe you can hold your own against a hooligan. Did Alfie at least walk you home dear?"

"Yes Mrs," Jane said ignoring her babbling concern like always and entered the room. She sat down in the lone chair of a long table that held one bowl of cold porridge. "He's enrolling in the war."

"He's such a fine young man he'll turn out into a respectable gentleman, shame his granny died before she could see him grow, god rest her sou- wait, he did what?" Mrs.S shockingly asked knowing the answer herself already. Her grip on the wooden spoon that was mixing tomorrow morning's oatmeal hardened, "Doesn't he know what'll happen to him out there in that godforsaken war? Are they enlisting boys now? What has the world come to?"

Jane didn't answer. She knew in her heart that was exactly what she thought of Alfie's actions too, but if she were to verbally agree, Mrs.S might try to persuade her to convince him to not go. That little push would drive her on the edge and trick her into doing such a thing; but she couldn't bear to do that to him, not when he was already so set on the idea.

"Let's get our minds out of this depressing topic," the caregiver's voice cut through her thoughts and back into reality. Jane really did have a bad habit of daydreaming. "We need some good news love, how was work?"

Jane proudly grinned at the new subject. She was glad that Mrs.S was so open-minded to allow her to take on such a task and help her bring in more financial income to help feed all the girls. The caregiver had even taken it upon herself to sew together her boy trousers.

"You won't believe it!" Jane excitedly spoke, her eyes lighting up like a child again – it only ever did at times like these now. "I sold all my stack again. That's twice this week now, and a man even gave me a penny on his own will."

"Careful, nothing good comes from strange men giving free money," the older woman said but couldn't quite hold back her joy as she tightly embraced Jane from the side and shouted, "Two dollars?! My oh my, you're such a headstrong girl."

"Careful Mrs, you'd wake the other girls," shushed Jane as she giggled from her caregiver's childish behavior. When she was released from her hold, Jane reached into her pocket to pull out the change that jingled with her every movement.

"Here's the money Mrs, now we have enough to buy more food," Jane deposited the coins onto the table as Mrs.S took out her rounded reading glasses and began counting the money. While she did so, the young girl reached into her other pocket to retrieve the thimble Alfie had given. When Jane felt her finger slip through hole, her heart began to frantically thump in her chest.

She couldn't have lost it so easily. It just wasn't an option. Coming up with an excuse to go look for it in outside, she told Mrs.S, "I think I dropped that penny outside, I'll go look for it really quick." The woman nodded, not looking up and continued with her task of counting the coins.

Jane made a dash toward the door, scanning the floor as she did so but the tiles were bare. Her shaky fingers madly turned the doorknob, cool air splashing her warm face from the drop in the temperature. Jane jumped off the steps and continued scanning the spot where she had previously occupied, but there was no kiss anywhere.

"Dammit!" She shouted in frustration as tears prickled her eyes. She would not cry over this, she would not cry from losing what could have possibly been her most precious thing ever. And then Jane's left eye betrayed her as a drop ran down her to her chin. She shouted again and wiped the tear away before stomping back inside the home.

"Jane dear, what was all that racket outside?" Mrs.S asked the young lady who had re-entered the kitchen with a frown on her face, "Don't be so upset dear, I found your penny right here!"

Jane glanced at what Mrs.S had been pointing to, there on the table next to perfectly stacked coin towers stood a lonely bronze penny. It wasn't even shiny.

"See, you didn't lose it, after all, must be a lucky penny!" The woman gleefully proclaimed as she placed it in her palm same way as the man had done too.

"Yeah…" Jane sarcastically mumbled as she stared death holed into the coin, "Must be my lucky day."

* * *

"Quiet you! Here she comes," a girl whispered among her peers. She was a year younger than Jane, and the youngest of her little group of four. All the other girls were either Jane's age or seventeen or about to become an adult within a few months. Jane herself would be turning seventeen in a few weeks' time.

Jane scowled at them as she held her head high despite her face being dirty and smudged. These were the girls she despised. The ones who merely accepted their fate in society and did nothing to help. They focused on keeping their hair soft and prim, their clothes wrinkle-free, and befriended the wealthy man's sons instead of helping Mrs.S keep the group-home running.

Jane had tried to convince the other girls her age to pretend to be a boy and work selling papers, but they all rejected the idea calling it preposterous. They were poor yet delicate. Sadly, in this world, one could die from such pride if they couldn't afford it.

The girls whispered, huddled over a single bunk bed while Jane undressed. The chestnut-haired girl completely ignoring their gossip as she undid the binds to her chest and released a sigh from being free of the constructing thing.

"You know I can still hear you and you might just wake up the others. Wouldn't want Mrs.S coming up here either," Jane said knocking some sense into the girls into a thick silence as they went to their own beds in a hurry. Uninterested in them, Jane slipped on her lavender nightgown that Mrs.S gifted her three years ago. Every time she would grow taller, her kind caregiver would sew in another inch or two of frills on the bottom.

She walked towards the giant windowsill and laid down on it as she looked out to the view of Bloomsbury. Her gown now held two layers of frilly lace on the bottom and was in desperate need of another later now that her shins were showing.

With another exhausting sigh, Jane brought her legs to her chest and leaned her head on them. This time, her mind focusing back onto the thimble she had lost somewhere outside. Her blue eyes raking the smog-filled streets in a false attempt to spot a shiny gleam under the moonlight that would signify that it was her thimble.

She mentally laughed at her idiotic hopeful wishes. Only a child would think like that and she was no child. She was a lady who tirelessly worked like a boy and didn't play in the sun all day.

"If you take care of your hair and quit that job of yours, you might actually get a nice boy with money to notice you," the oldest girl in the group spoke as she sat up on her bed, "Were not accepted in society and you can't always pretend to be a boy to make a living. I know how you think of us as, gold diggers, but we do what we must to survive. To get out of this hell-hole and live proper lives."

"I don't want to be a wife," Jane numbly responded, shocking even herself. Her words hadn't filtered through her mind yet this was her subconsciously automatic reply. "I will not seduce a young man and be a servant for him so I can play dress up and a tea party. Yes, we are looked down by society because were poor orphan girls, but that doesn't mean your only option is marriage."

The girl huffed in denial, staying silent, and rolled in her bed to sleep in. Jane was glad that the girl had chosen to remain quiet rather than continue to hold a pointless discussion with her and looked back out the window.

A small crack was left open and she could feel the cool breeze slip through and tickle her bare skin. The night was silent just like how Jane preferred until a chiming of a small bell filled her ears.

She had heard that similar tune before in the train station when that boy with the beautiful marble appeared. It was the exact same sound and Jane searched the scene with a new goal in her mind: to find the source of that exotically calm sound.

Without any luck, she failed to locate it as the music died down until it was silent once more. Frustrated for the third time that day, she decided that it was time to turn in for the night before another maddening incident occurred.

She would have to wake up early tomorrow at dawn before the sun rose to get ready and sell another stack of papers. It was a regular do and repeat cycle for her; one that she had gotten accustomed to so she could help feed her fellow girls – even the ones she didn't like. However, as the night droned on, Jane found herself twisting and turning unable to fall to sleep.

It was to say quite unusual for her, she never had trouble falling into a deep slumber. With a grunt, Jane rose from the bed and peeked out the window that now had the blinds closed, probably from Mrs.S's doing. She quietly pulled them open to not disturb the other girls who were already fast asleep.

An irresistible itch overtook Jane tempting her to open the windows wide. She hesitated and ran her fingers over the cool glass deciding against the idea, it was time for her to get ready anyways and she couldn't spare to waste another minute. She rubbed her temple and sighed before gathering her bindings to get ready for work.

She guessed that luck just wasn't on her side anymore and continued buttoning a white sleeveless dress shirt. She slipped on her light denim blue overalls that ended above her ankles due to it being a hand-me-down that didn't fit exactly. This was her favorite set of clothes, giving her the mobility to move freely.

Anything was better than a dress; except those soft flowy ones she'd see in the store windows, she wouldn't mind wearing one of those. Shaking her head to rid those silly thoughts out, she slipped her button-up shoes that were a bit beaten up from abuse. They were the only pair she had left that still fit beside some ugly buckle up ones; those reminded her of pirates for some odd reason.

She stretched, her balance weighing on the heels of her feet as her hands shot above her head and she noticed that the window was slightly ajar. Jane blinked, her brows creasing in confusion as she wondered if she had done that by accident without even realizing it.

Jane quickly closed it, puzzled and wanting to rid the evidence of doing such a silly thing after telling herself not to. She thought she had stronger willpower than that. She shook her head again, losing that bad train of thought that would lead her nowhere; she had to get going.

As Jane picked up her hat that sat on the foot of her bead, she felt a chill that rose the hairs on her arms from a trickling breeze. Standing up swiftly, she looked straight at the windowsill and noticed the pane was opened wide again.

"What the?" Jane mumbled walking towards it once more, hand outstretched and unbelieving that what she saw was real. Maybe she was dreaming, that would explain a lot. Jane rubbed her eyes and mumbled it out loud to confirm it, "I'm dreaming."

"You're not dreaming silly girl," a sweet-sounding voice spoke in the shell of her ear and Jane spun to look who had whispered that to her. But, there was no one behind her.

"Who said that?" Jane loudly asked, quickly covering her mouth from being too loud and whispered the last part, "Show yourself."

"I'm right here on your shoulder," the voice, clear as a bell said before adding a witty remark afterward, "Don't you have a brain silly girl?"

Jane tilted her head and when her eyes landed on a little flying woman, she jumped and brushed her shoulder in a panic causing the creature to rapidly fly off to a safer swat-free place in mid-air.

"W-What are you?" Jane asked in shock, no curiosity whatsoever in her voice. "Are you a figment of my imagination?"

"Of course, not! I'm a fairy!" The little woman angrily responded, "I'm starting to doubt that you're a Darling."

"Wait how do you know who I am?" Jane asked as she sat down on the foot of her bed, surely this was a delusion from not getting enough sleep.

"Everyone knows who you are," Tinkerbell said with a soft smile, "My name is Tinkerbell, I was born from your first laughter."

"My laughter?" Jane incredibly asked not believing a single thing, "How is that even possible? How are you even real?"

Tinkerbell faltered in her flight a little and her spark dimmed, but it quickly took on a red hue as anger covered her face, "Maybe I was wrong this time. You're not the Wendy Darling we're looking for because the real one would know that magic is real! She would remember me and believe in me!"

Jane's eyes widened. She hadn't heard or muttered that name in a long time. The last time she had voiced that name was when she stopped being a child wanting her mother to come back on the steps of the group home. All the older girls at that time had laughed at her causing her to vow to never cry that name again.

It was like a forbidden word for her. Until Alfie had changed her mind when she noticed how he spoke of his own mother. The respect and love burned in his eyes and that word had faded from cursed to a marvel of the small hope of love left for her if she spoke her name out loud. It's not like she remembered much of that woman anyways.

"You knew my mother?" She said above a whisper, "What was she like?"

"Your mother?" Tink confusingly repeated as she flew closer to inspect the young girl with those incredibly familiar eyes. Then it hit her, this girl was slightly tanner from working under the sun; very unlike the fairer skinned and cultured Wendy with her flowy blue dress.

The way this girl talked was rebellious, boyish, rough. Wendy was gentle, sympathetic, and too motherly. But this girl had no practical act whatsoever. Just standing right in front of her, this girl could light a fuse with her obvious stubbornness to not give up the fight. She was too prideful…too mature.

She was perfect. She was what Pixie Hollow, no what _Neverland_ needed.

This new information had Tink's brain revolving in thought with more questions and solutions forming here and there. She was a tinker born with the talent to fix things and right now, Neverland needed fixing before it was too late.

Before it died out and faded into nothingness along with its inhabitants.


End file.
